ġ998 – Wins first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon in mixed doubles with Croatia’s Max Mirnyi.ġ999 – Beats Swiss legend Martina Hingis in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. Venus (l) and Serena smile during a press conference following their match at the Australian Open Tennis Championships in Melbourne in 1998.

Beats sixth-seed Irina Spirlea but loses in the second round to sister Venus Williams. Loses in straight sets to Annie Miller.ġ998 – Makes Grand Slam main draw debut at Australian Open aged 16. Here is a timeline of Serena’s career, from turning professional to bowing out on Friday night at Flushing Meadows.ġ995 – Makes her professional debut aged 14 at the Bell Challenge in Quebec City. Her journey, however, has not been free of controversies, ranging from match-fixing accusations against her father to being disqualified over on-court behaviour. Serena’s glorious career saw her sit atop the WTA rankings for 319 weeks (third on the all-time list) of which she held the top position for 186 consecutive weeks (joint record with Steffi Graf). The 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 loss to the 46th-ranked Australian on Friday seems to have ended a professional career that spanned 26 years and consisted of 23 singles Grand Slam titles, just one behind record holder Australia’s Margaret Court. Former women’s world number one Serena Williams has likely played the last tennis match of her professional career following her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic at the US Open.

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